The Colts should reunite Anthony Richardson with a college teammate before the NFL trade deadline
The Indianapolis Colts sit at 2-2 on the year and have gotten solid production from multiple members of their young offense. They've seen Jonathan Taylor return to being an elite running back, and Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, and Josh Downs all have had stand-out performances in the wide receiver room. The team's tight end room, […]
The Indianapolis Colts sit at 2-2 on the year and have gotten solid production from multiple members of their young offense.
They've seen Jonathan Taylor return to being an elite running back, and Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, and Josh Downs all have had stand-out performances in the wide receiver room. The team's tight end room, though, is the one skill position that has struggled to have a consistent impact. A group that the team is deploying the committee approach with currently because there's no "alpha TE" in the room.
One player they could target to develop into that role is a former college teammate of Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson: Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts.
The Colts should trade for Falcons TE Kyle Pitts
The Falcons drafted Pitts with fourth overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. But before he was a Falcon, he was a Gator at the University of Florida for three seasons from 2018 to 2020. There, he crossed paths with Richardson, whose first year at Florida came during Pitt's last in 2020.
Now, Pitts never caught a pass from Richardson, but the fact that they were teammates at all would give them a jumpstart on building the chemistry that sometimes takes a pass catcher and their QB years to do.
Pitts ended his Florida career with a bang by setting new career highs across the board while only playing in eight games by recording 43 catches, 770 yards, and 12 touchdowns. If that wasn't impressive enough, he went on to have a great showing at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he recorded a 9.66 RAS score due to his athletic testing.
His NFL career so far, though, hasn't lived up to the massive hype that surrounded him during his draft process, which led him to be drafted fourth overall. During his four-year career to date, Pitts has only surpassed 1,000 yards once, during his rookie season in 2021. He has also only found the endzone seven times, with his career high in a season coming in 2023, which was only three.
The Falcons exercised Pitts' fifth-year option, which means he has one more year on his rookie contract left before he will be due a new deal. So, if the Colts were to trade for him, he would be locked up through the end of the 2025 season. I believe Pitts' skill set would be a welcomed addition to the Colts offense. And I think an offense like the Colts that want to utilize Richardson's big arm to generate explosive pass plays would help optimize Pitts' unique skill set that, in my opinion, to date, hasn't been utilized to its full potential.
In terms of what a trade would look like, a recent TE trade that comes to mind is T.J. Hockenson, who was traded from the Detroit Lions to the Minnesota Vikings. That deal sent a 2023 second-round pick, a 2024 third-round pick to the Lions for Hockenson, and a 2024 fourth-round pick. Now, Pitts isn't as accomplished as Hockenson at the point of that trade, so I think his value is for sure less. My guess is that the trade package for Pitts would include a third-round pick and an additional selection, probably on day three.
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